Picault's late goal ends Sounders' winning streak in Philadelphia

Seattle Storm's Nicolas Lodeiro struggles to control the ball on the edge of the box during an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018, in Seattle.

Seattle Storm's Nicolas Lodeiro struggles to control the ball on the edge of the box during an MLS soccer match against the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2018, in Seattle. (Bettina Hansen / AP)

Mark MoschettiASSOCIATED PRESS

Fafa Picault made sure this one counted.

Picault scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage time Wednesday night, and the Philadelphia Union halted Seattle's MLS-record nine-game winning streak by beating the Sounders 1-0.

Goalkeeper Stefan Frei rolled a soft clearance pass out toward defender Gustav Svensson. But Picault got to the ball an instant before Svensson did and took it into the left side of the penalty area 1-on-1 against Frei. From 8 yards away, he drilled it into the back center of the net for his eighth goal of the season.

"I was reading a lot of passes throughout the game," Picault said. "(Teammate) Jay Simpson did a good job of pressuring up high. I saw the cutoff pass, and had the option to maybe play it to Jay. But the goalkeeper came out and made a good block of the angles, so I had to slip it through his legs."

The Union (13-12-4) won for the fifth time in six games. This one came not only after having a second-half goal nullified by an offside call, but after they went down a man when defender Jack Elliott was sent off in the 89th minute with his second yellow card of the night.

"The guys showed a lot of strength and character and commitment, going down a man and continuing to push and get the goal," head coach Jim Curtin said. "It was good pressure by Jay, who we called upon, then Fafa does well to read it, and we make a play.

"The hard work and defensive work of the guys got rewarded," Curtin added. "You're rewarded when you defend collectively as a team, and we were rewarded with a goal. As late as it was, we were still rewarded."

While Frei's teammates were quick to jump to his defense and not pin the loss on him, it was small consolation to the keeper who came with the best goals-against average (0.96) in MLS.

"Saving my teammates' butts is my job. When it works out, it's great, but when you make a mistake as a goalkeeper, it never leads to anything pretty," Frei said. "It's frustrating when it's not even the goalkeeping that leads to a goal. You take risks when you're passing the ball around your own goal and so far, we've done exceptionally well.

"But that doesn't make it any easier — it sucks," he said.

Philadelphia thought it had gotten on the board in the 65th minute when a long through ball from Haris Medunjanin found Cory Burke streaking up the right wing side. Burke took the ball to the right side of the 6-yard box and sent a shallow shot across the goalmouth and into the far side of the net.

The Sounders were back at midfield preparing to kick off when the video review was called. After just a few seconds, referee Ismail Elfath walked away from the screen and waved off the goal, ruling that Burke had been offside.

Seattle (13-10-5) lost for the first time since dropping a 3-2 decision to Portland in Seattle on June 30. In addition to the nine straight wins, they had an overall unbeaten streak of 12 games during that stretch (10-0-2), just one shy of the club record.

"It shows how difficult it is to keep a winning streak going," Frei said. "There's no room for error. You need to be taking care of your chances and need to be very sharp in the back."

Dutch portal Football World Rankings released its latest ranking of the top managers in the world of soccer based on their results over the past 52 weeks, a list in which Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino fail to crack the top ten.

(Juan Pimiento)

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Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina slammed third-tier Pro Piacenza's 20-0 defeat by Cuneo on Sunday as an "insult to sport" after the losing side fielded just seven players.

Financially troubled Pro Piacenza have been unable to pay their players and staff, who have been on strike for several weeks.

Before Sunday's game at Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy, bottom club Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three matches and a fourth would have seen them kicked out of Serie C.

So they took to the pitch with seven players, all teenagers born between 2000 and 2002. An eighth player could not initially start having forgotten his identity papers and came on after an hour.

One of the two players born in 2000 was named on the match sheet as the coach.

With information from AFP.

Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina slammed third-tier Pro Piacenza's 20-0 defeat by Cuneo on Sunday as an "insult to sport" after the losing side fielded just seven players.

Financially troubled Pro Piacenza have been unable to pay their players and staff, who have been on strike for several weeks.

Before Sunday's game at Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy, bottom club Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three matches and a fourth would have seen them kicked out of Serie C.

So they took to the pitch with seven players, all teenagers born between 2000 and 2002. An eighth player could not initially start having forgotten his identity papers and came on after an hour.

One of the two players born in 2000 was named on the match sheet as the coach.

With information from AFP.

CAPTION

Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina slammed third-tier Pro Piacenza's 20-0 defeat by Cuneo on Sunday as an "insult to sport" after the losing side fielded just seven players.

Financially troubled Pro Piacenza have been unable to pay their players and staff, who have been on strike for several weeks.

Before Sunday's game at Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy, bottom club Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three matches and a fourth would have seen them kicked out of Serie C.

So they took to the pitch with seven players, all teenagers born between 2000 and 2002. An eighth player could not initially start having forgotten his identity papers and came on after an hour.

One of the two players born in 2000 was named on the match sheet as the coach.

With information from AFP.

Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina slammed third-tier Pro Piacenza's 20-0 defeat by Cuneo on Sunday as an "insult to sport" after the losing side fielded just seven players.

Financially troubled Pro Piacenza have been unable to pay their players and staff, who have been on strike for several weeks.

Before Sunday's game at Cuneo in Piedmont, northern Italy, bottom club Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three matches and a fourth would have seen them kicked out of Serie C.

So they took to the pitch with seven players, all teenagers born between 2000 and 2002. An eighth player could not initially start having forgotten his identity papers and came on after an hour.

One of the two players born in 2000 was named on the match sheet as the coach.

With information from AFP.

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Bayern Munich got off to an inauspicious start in their Bundesliga match against Bavarian rivals Augsburg as midfielder Leon Goretzka scored in his own goal 13 seconds into the match.

Bayern Munich got off to an inauspicious start in their Bundesliga match against Bavarian rivals Augsburg as midfielder Leon Goretzka scored in his own goal 13 seconds into the match.

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was comically caught off guard when informed about Benjamin Mendy's Instagram post announcing his location as Hong Kong.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was comically caught off guard when informed about Benjamin Mendy's Instagram post announcing his location as Hong Kong.

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A week removed from Nantes's emotional display, Cardiff followed suit with an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala, who signed with the Welsh club before his disappearance, ahead of their first home game since the Argentine was reported missing.

A week removed from Nantes's emotional display, Cardiff followed suit with an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala, who signed with the Welsh club before his disappearance, ahead of their first home game since the Argentine was reported missing.

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Nantes paid an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Wednesday before their first match since their former striker's plane disappeared over the Channel last week.

The 28-year-old had been traveling from Nantes to his new club Cardiff City when the plane went missing, with pilot David Ibbotson the only other person on board.

British investigators said earlier on Wednesday it was "likely" that two seat cushions that have washed up on the French shore were from the missing aircraft.

Nantes unveiled a large photo of Sala in the centre-circle before kick-off in the Ligue 1 game against Saint-Etienne, while the Argentine's former teammates donned T-shirts with "we love you Emi" written on the back.

All the Nantes players played in shirts featuring Sala's name instead of their own.

Former Nantes forward Yacine Bammou, who became a close friend of Sala's before leaving for Caen, was in tears in the stands, while coach Vahid Halilhodzic also struggled to contain his emotions.

Sala scored 42 league goals in 120 appearances for Nantes before signing for Cardiff in a 17-million-euro ($19.3-million) move.

He had visited his former teammates in Nantes on January 21 to say goodbye before flying towards Cardiff on the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane.

The official search was suspended last Thursday, but Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it would start an underwater search this weekend, working alongside a privately-funded search.

Hundreds of Nantes fans had held a vigil in the French city last week shortly after the first searches had failed to find the player.

"I did not have much hope. Now we must try to mourn and then move forward," said 69-year-old Nantes supporter Andree Guittet.

With information from AFP.

Nantes paid an emotional tribute to Emiliano Sala at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Wednesday before their first match since their former striker's plane disappeared over the Channel last week.

The 28-year-old had been traveling from Nantes to his new club Cardiff City when the plane went missing, with pilot David Ibbotson the only other person on board.

British investigators said earlier on Wednesday it was "likely" that two seat cushions that have washed up on the French shore were from the missing aircraft.

Nantes unveiled a large photo of Sala in the centre-circle before kick-off in the Ligue 1 game against Saint-Etienne, while the Argentine's former teammates donned T-shirts with "we love you Emi" written on the back.

All the Nantes players played in shirts featuring Sala's name instead of their own.

Former Nantes forward Yacine Bammou, who became a close friend of Sala's before leaving for Caen, was in tears in the stands, while coach Vahid Halilhodzic also struggled to contain his emotions.

Sala scored 42 league goals in 120 appearances for Nantes before signing for Cardiff in a 17-million-euro ($19.3-million) move.

He had visited his former teammates in Nantes on January 21 to say goodbye before flying towards Cardiff on the Piper PA-46 Malibu plane.

The official search was suspended last Thursday, but Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it would start an underwater search this weekend, working alongside a privately-funded search.

Hundreds of Nantes fans had held a vigil in the French city last week shortly after the first searches had failed to find the player.

"I did not have much hope. Now we must try to mourn and then move forward," said 69-year-old Nantes supporter Andree Guittet.